If the Broncos’ defensive coordinator were to satisfy the critics who have sounded off since the 70-yard playoff touchdown heave by Joe Flacco doomed Denver’s 2012 season, Del Rio would have needed 12 or 13 guys on the field.

“From my personal standpoint, I say I can do better,” Del Rio said Saturday in his first public comments about the Flacco Fling that set up the Baltimore Ravens’ stunning 38-35 double-overtime playoff win against the Broncos in the AFC divisional round game Jan. 12. “I can do a better job coaching our guys. I’ll do a better job making the call. I’ll be better. I’ll be better for our guys.

“And that’s how I want our guys to approach it: Don’t worry about what Mike should have done better or Bob should have done better. Look at it and see what you could have done a little bit better.”

In defense of Del Rio’s defense, it’s not like the Broncos didn’t have anyone back on the play. Moore was in position to knock Flacco’s long pass down. It’s just that Moore misjudged the high-trajectory throw and stumbled backward as the ball landed in receiver Jacoby Jones’ arms at the 20. From there, Jones strode uncontested for a touchdown that tied the game 35-35 with 31 seconds left in regulation.

Not that anyone remembers the details or anything. Would Del Rio have done something differently? Would he have rushed more than three? Would he have sent four safeties back instead of three? Would he have recited a Hail Mary to offset the one Flacco was about to throw?

“You don’t get do-overs,” Del Rio said. “If you get a do-over, I’ve got a list of things we could’ve done. But you learn from the experience and go forward. We have absolutely, 100 percent gone forward. That’s last year’s news.”

That may be for Broncos coaches and players. But it’s easier for them not to dwell than for the fans. The coaches and players have moved on to training, offseason walk-throughs, new contracts, free agency and the draft.

For Broncos fans, the lasting memory from the otherwise successful 2012 season was not the 11 consecutive wins to finish the regular season. It was of how legitimate hopes of the Broncos winning a third Super Bowl vanished on one 70-yard heave.

“We’ll keep talking about that, but we won’t keep talking about the fact we were second in the league in defense, that we led the league in sacks, that we led the league in third-down defense,” Del Rio said. “And I don’t want to dwell on those things, either. Because that’s in the past.

“To me, you recognize last year for what it was. You learn the lessons that are there to be learned, you grow from it and you go forward.”

Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998 before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.

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